I'm a rubbish businessman. I have tried several
times to make money as an entrepreneur and never made much.
I'm much too cautious really. On the few occasions I've
thought big, taken risks and stepped into the void I've come a
cropper . Fortunately, on each occasion I had a day job and that
enabled me to avoid bankruptcy, though sometimes only by a
whisker.
My Calendar Period lasted from 1993 to 1999. The roller coaster ride it took me on taught me lessons in promotion, finance and achieving deadlines. It also gave me the chance to correspond with Ronnie Barker!
At the beginning of this period I was doing a warehouse job in Bedford that provided ideal flexible hours, enabling me to care for my mother during the day by working late afternoons and evenings. To satisfy my writing urges, I wrote during break times and at the weekends. However, I didn't have a release for my visual creativity.
I have always taken photos of landscapes, and
people within landscapes. I knew through my day job that
people in Bedford were proud of their town and that there was no
local calendar. Of course that didn't mean that anybody would buy
such a thing if it existed, but I checked out the costs and
searched for local photographers nevertheless.
I looked through thousands of slides at the homes of enthusiastic amateurs and found half a dozen shots that I thought had both originality and would be accepted onto someone's kitchen wall for a month. I took a couple more pictures needed and for the rest of the images I was saved by a good cameraman friend. I'd arrange the location, times and angles and then Andrew Turner delivered the high quality images.
I found a big local printer,
Newnorth, that would produce the calendar at a reduced cost
in return for using the calendar to send to their customers. And
then I printed 2,000 copies that I could sell for my own use.
Because I had reduced the costs of printing I only needed to sell
600 to break even. The Tourist Information Centre sold 400
copies of the 34x32cm full colour, wiro-bound and shrink-wrapped
calendar. I then made my profit through an enthusiastic local book
store, County Books, and a tie-in with a local newspaper, The
Bedfordshire Times, who sold it in their town office.
I sold all the copies of the 1994 Bedford calendar. They literally sold like hot cakes and what a lovely feeling that was! For three months, from October to the end of the year I was being constantly called to top up supplies. It was great to have created something that I liked and that other people were willing to pay a fiver for. Wonderful emotion! And I made a nice profit. I thought, "I could do this nationwide, I could become big!" I decided to set up calendars in three neighbouring counties.
Business rule number 27. Don't expand till you've tested the market.
